Question WiFi Distances

[keninsc]

I am at a loss.
I have, apparently, lots of stuff on my older router and it is all WiFi now of course. 2 TVS, a laptop, a PC and a couple of smartphones too just to name a few.
All of the sudden the TV that is the greatest distance from the router is streaming (I guess that is the term) or is very slow to even boot up as such.
I found that if the wife turns off the TV in the living room that the TV in question will do OK but is still a little slow and sometimes has pauses in programming.
The older router is a NetGear and is about 5-7 years old.
Do I need a newer router that may handle more stuff? or one with greater distance/frequencies? The house is 2000 sq. st. Or perhaps a repeater?
I am at a loss to figure this out myself.
Please help???

 

[kanewolf]

I am at a loss.
I have, apparently, lots of stuff on my older router and it is all WiFi now of course. 2 TVS, a laptop, a PC and a couple of smartphones too just to name a few.
All of the sudden the TV that is the greatest distance from the router is streaming (I guess that is the term) or is very slow to even boot up as such.
I found that if the wife turns off the TV in the living room that the TV in question will do OK but is still a little slow and sometimes has pauses in programming.
The older router is a NetGear and is about 5-7 years old.
Do I need a newer router that may handle more stuff? or one with greater distance/frequencies? The house is 2000 sq. st. Or perhaps a repeater?
I am at a loss to figure this out myself.
Please help???

What, if any cabling do you have in the house? Do you have any ethernet? What about coax? The best thing to do is to move as many STATIONARY devices to a wired connection. If the living room TV is near the router, switch it to a wired connection for example.
It is also possible you have exceeded your ISP bandwidth. What speeds are you paying for from your ISP ?

 

[keninsc]

I have an internet provider/plan that is wired into the home and provides 300 Mbps speeds. It is a basic plan. Need to upgrade?
The neighboring property cut the cable so the provider was here a couple of months back and checked everything in the home and changed out my cable to my router and improved the connection at the plate. I think he said it was a bit noisy but he fixed it or so he said.
I hope this answers your questions anyway.
I see some new routers out there with 3 frequencies now. Maybe it is time to get a new one with more range too?

 

[kanewolf]

I have an internet provider/plan that is wired into the home and provides 300 Mbps speeds. It is a basic plan. Need to upgrade?
The neighboring property cut the cable so the provider was here a couple of months back and checked everything in the home and changed out my cable to my router and improved the connection at the plate. I think he said it was a bit noisy but he fixed it or so he said.
I hope this answers your questions anyway.
I see some new routers out there with 3 frequencies now. Maybe it is time to get a new one with more range too?

It doesn't quite answer. What I am trying to determine is if there is anything that can be used as a wired network to get a second WIFI source closer to the TV with issues. Ethernet cable is best, but if you have coax cable that you can identify the end points, then you may be able to use that as a computer network.

 

[keninsc]

I just looked at the router and there are no ethernet cables hooked to it so I assume it has to be all WiFi.
I read that some of the newer routers will handle like 50-60 deivces. I have no idea what the older router we have will handle. Maybe we have exceeded the limit for all I know.
And my router is in the living room centrally located in the home. It sits on a table about 3' off the ground.
The only new items we have recently added were a couple of newer smartphones which are connected via WiFi as we are in a remote area with limited towers.
Sorry if I am not quite answering your questions but I am old and trying to understand all of this.

 

[kanewolf]

I just looked at the router and there are no ethernet cables hooked to it so I assume it has to be all WiFi.
I read that some of the newer routers will handle like 50-60 deivces. I have no idea what the older router we have will handle. Maybe we have exceeded the limit for all I know.
Sorry if I am not quite answering your questions but I am old and trying to understand all of this.

OK, let's start by finding the model number of the router. It is probably on the bottom, but you may also be able to figure it out by logging in and looking at a status page.

 

[keninsc]

OK, just looked at it.
It is a NetGear and the following appears on it:

AC1750 and Model C6300

 

[keninsc]

If it matters, I just did a speed test:

PING​

27
ms

JITTER​

2
ms

DOWNLOAD​

372.5
Mbps

UPLOAD​

11.5
Mbps

 

[kanewolf]

OK, just looked at it.
It is a NetGear and the following appears on it:

AC1750 and Model C6300

OK, well the C6300 -- https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/modem-routers/c6300/ complicates things a little. That unit is a combo modem and router. Do you own that or do you rent it from the cable company ?

 

[keninsc]

I bought it years ago. The old internet provider in another state rented one to us but everytime lightning struck it burned out.
Never had that probelm with this router so it has been good to us.
If it matters one way or the other we have Spectrum as a provider.

 

[kanewolf]

I bought it years ago. The old internet provider in another state rented one to us but everytime lightning struck it burned out.
Never had that probelm with this router so it has been good to us.
If it matters one way or the other we have Spectrum as a provider.

I don't like combo units. They limit your flexibility in upgrading or even locating your WIFI. If you want to upgrade, I would recommend a separate modem and router. If you have a modem, then you can use ANY router.

 

[keninsc]

Any recomendations?

 

[kanewolf]

Any recomendations?

You will find a list of approved modems on Spectrum's webpage. You need to choose from the list. The Arris modems are good.

 

[keninsc]

OK, thanks for the education and I will take a look at their page and get a seperate modem and WiFi router.

 

[gggplaya]

Do you have coax tv outlets in various rooms of the house?

These can be repurposed to carry internet to more wifi points in the house for better coverage.